Conductor
Piano

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor: Sydney Symphony Orchestra (from 2009)
Music Director: European Union Youth Orchestra
Conductor Laureate: Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor Laureate: NHK Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Laureate: Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Artist Laureate: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

In the years since Vladimir Ashkenazy first came to prominence on the world stage in the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw he has built an extraordinary career, not only as one of the most renowned and revered pianists of our times, but as an artist whose creative life encompasses a vast range of activities and continues to offer inspiration to music-lovers across the world.

Formerly Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic (1998 to 2003), Ashkenazy became Music Director of NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo in 2004, and in January 2009 he will take up the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also has a warm relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra as their Conductor Laureate, and holds the positions of Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He maintains strong links with major orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra (he is former Principal Guest Conductor), San Francisco Symphony and Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin (Chief Conductor and Music Director 1988-96).

While conducting takes up a significant portion of his time each season, Ashkenazy continues to devote himself to the piano, adding to his extraordinarily comprehensive recording catalogue with releases such as the 1999 Grammy award-winning Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues and his most recent release, Bach's Wohltemperierte Klavier.

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